n- 

v> 

— 


GIFT  OF 


THE  PARADISE 
OF  DANTE. 

BY 
ELLEN    M.  MITCHELL 


E  LA  SUA  VO- 
LONTATE  E  NOS- 
TRA  PACE." 

"AND    HIS  WILL 
IS  OUR  PEACE." 


The  Paradise  of  Dante. 


BY 
ELLEN  M.  MITCHELL 


COPYRIGHT  1898. 


PRICE,  25  CENTS. 

SYRACUSE,  N.  Y. 


PRESS  OF  HALL  lc  M 
SYRACUSE,  N 


THE  PARADISE  OF  DANTE. 

HAMILTON  MABIE  says  that  "it  is  pos- 
sible to  spend  years  of  study  on  what 
may  be  called  the  externals  of  the  Divina  Corn- 
media^  and  remain  unaffected  in  nature  by  this 
contact  with  one  of  the  masterpieces  of  the  spirit 
of  man.  It  is  also  possible  to  so  absorb  Dante's 
thought  and  so  saturate  one's  self  with  the  life  of 
the  poem  as  to  add  to  one's  individual  capital  of 
thought  and  experience  all  that  the  poet  discerned 
in  that  deep  heart  of  his  and  wrought  out  of  that 
intense  and  tragic  experience." 

"Still  studying  Dante?"  was  the  question  of  a 
visitor  of  Lowell.  "Yes,  always  studying  Dante," 
was  the  reply  of  one  of  the  greatest  scholars 
America  has  produced. 

Four  chief  subjects  occupy  the  inner  life  of 
Dante,  the  circle  of  his  thoughts  and  feelings; 
politics,  philosophy,  love,  faith.  All  are  found 
harmoniously  united  in  his  great  poem.  The 
world  of  ideas  in  which  he  lived,  the  contents  of 
the  real  world  which  surrounded  him,  are  poured 


into  one  form  and  moulded  into  one  thought,  the 
Divina  Commedia.  The  writer's  own  life  is 
chronicled  in  it,  the  transient  names  and  local  fac- 
tions and  forgotten  crimes  of  his  own  day,  as  well 
as  the  mysteries  of  time  and  eternity.  Dante 
comes  near  to  us  as  an  erring  human  soul, 
tempted,  purified,  and  at  last  triumphant.  Un- 
der the  figure  of  his  own  experience,  the  unity  of 
the  visible  and  the  invisible  is  vividly  shadowed 
forth.  This  is  the  subject  of  the  Divina  Corn- 
media^ — the  harmony  between  the  divine  and  the 
human,  between  faith  and  reason,  between  God 
and  the  world. 

Taken  literally,  Dante's  poem  is  an  account  of 
his  journey  through  Hell,  Purgatory,  Paradise; 
interpreted  spiritually,  it  is  a  revelation  of  what 
man  is  and  of  what  his  life  means.  The  soul 
that  sins  is  in  Hell,  seeking  to  cut  itself  off  from 
the  divine  organism  of  which  it  is  a  part.  The 
result  is  impotence  and  misery. 

Sin  produces  torment  by  creating  a  correspond- 
ing environment  of  hatred  and  antagonism.  To 
sin  is  to  suffer,  because  sin  is  contrary  to  the  true 
nature  of  the  soul.  The  guilty  man  creates  his 
own  penalty;  penalty  is  born  of  freedom.  Hell 
is  free-will  arrayed  against  the  divine  order,  and 


therefore  cursed;  Heaven  is  free-will  working  in 
harmony  with  the  divine  order,  and  therefore 
blessed.  To  make  self  the  centre  of  the  universe 
is  Hell;  to  strive  to  subordinate  self  and  do 
God's  will  through  failure  and  repeated  effort  is 
Purgatory;  to  attain  the  end  finally  through  di- 
vine help  is  Paradise.  Freedom  is  grounded  in 
our  relation  to  God;  it  is  to  know  and  love  and 
do  His  will. 

The  rushes  on  the  shores  of  Purgatory  that  in- 
stantly spring  up  again  when  plucked  symbolize 
the  spiritual  law;  to  give  is  to  receive.  They 
symbolize  also  that  true  humility  which  finds  in 
pain  a  blessing  so  far  as  pain  results  from  wrong- 
doing. Who  ever  recognized  more  clearly  than 
Dante  that  it  is  something  within  us  rather  than 
something  outside  of  us  that  causes  our  unrest 
and  dissatisfaction?  To  forgive  our  own  faults 
is  as  necessary  to  spiritual  growth  as  to  forgive 
the  faults  of  others.  It  is  false  humility  to 
despise  and  depreciate  one's  self  over  much. 
"  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit."  But  the  poor 
in  spirit  are  exalted  inasmuch  as  they  recognize 
their  divine  birthright,  the  dignity  and  worth  of 
the  human  soul. 

Purgatory  is  the  school  of  aspiration  and  spir- 


itual  growth ;  what  we  aspire  to  be  we  are  in  some 
measure.  We  create  in  part  our  own  environ- 
ment; opportunity  and  temptation  have  only  the 
power  given  them  by  the  heart's  desire.  The 
higher  law  of  heredity  masters  the  lower;  we  are 
worms,  as  Dante  says,  but  worms  destined  to 
form  angelic  butterflies. 

By  symbolism  and  music  and  picture,  by  di- 
rect and  indirect  teaching,  we  are  constantly 
shown  by  Dante  how  we  ascend  by  one  another, 
and  are  at  our  best  only  when  we  take  God's 
gifts  for  the  benefit  of  those  who,  needing  them, 
stand  beyond  us.  Pain  and  inconvenience  are 
angels  in  disguise  to  help  us  toward  the  joy  of 
unselfish  service.  When  God  has  blessed  some 
one  else  through  us  then  is  his  blessing  truly 
ours.  Greatness  in  man  is  this  quality  of  taking 
into  one's  self  and  diffusing  to  others  some  part 
of  the  goodness  and  beauty  and  truth  at  the 
heart  of  the  universe. 

Pride,  envy,  anger,  accidia  or  lukewarmness, 
gluttony  and  intemperance,  lust, — the  fatal  roots 
in  character  of  fatal  deeds, — can  only  be  exter- 
minated by  long  continued  effort  and  pain,  re- 
belled against  if  one  is  in  Hell,  patiently  and 
hopefully  borne  if  one  is  in  Purgatory.  Pride  as 


exclusiveness  contradicts  the  very  nature  of  spir- 
itual good  which  cannot  be  monopolized  by  any 
soul.  We  grow  by  giving,  not  by  keeping;  to 
share  is  to  increase  our  spiritual  possessions. 

Envy  abuses  the  gift  of  spiritual  sight  and  sees 
with  grief  the  good  of  others.  Men  are  envious 
because  their  desires  are  directed  toward  those 
things  which  exclude  rather  than  include  com- 
panionship. The  few  who  possess  material  goods 
exclude  from  their  possession  the  many;  but  the 
more  there  are  who  possess  spiritual  goods  the 
more  each  one  has  and  enjoys,  "since  good  the 
more  communicated  the  more  abundant  grows." 

Anger  obscures  the  duties  we  owe  to  others; 
lukewarmness  makes  us  indifferent  to  evil ;  avarice 
and  waste  abuse  our  material  means  for  helping 
men;  gluttony  and  intemperance  unfit  us  for 
human  companionship;  lust  destroys  the  family, 
the  element  of  social  union.  Sin  is  social  as  well 
as  individual;  its  direct  effect  is  to  separate  the 
sinner  from  the  social  whole  in  which  he  lives, 
and  which  by  his  deeds  he  would  destroy.  The 
true  state  of  human  beings  is  one  of  mutual  love 
and  service,  giving  and  receiving  the  material  pro- 
ducts of  the  world,  food,  clothing,  shelter;  giving 
and  receiving  also  feelings,  thoughts,  the  experi- 


ence  of  the  race.  Human  life  is  vicarious,  as  Dr. 
William  T.  Harris  has  said,  each  one  living 
through  others  and  for  others  in  a  constant  inter- 
change of  benefits.  This  is  the  truth  seen  by  the 
regenerated  self  in  Dante's  Purgatory ;  this  is  the 
ideal  realized  in  Dante's  Paradise. 

The  gifts  to  men  are  various  and  by  no  means 
equal  as  regards  material  advantages  and  intellect- 
ual endowment.  So,  too,  with  environment ; 
for  one  it  is  favorable  to  the  growth  of  moral  ex- 
cellence, for  another  it  is  an  atmosphere  tending 
to  vice  and  corruption.  But  whatever  the  gifts, 
whatever  the  environment,  the  human  soul  sub- 
sists apart  as  an  independent  being,  not  their 
creation  but  the  creation  of  God,  and  therefore 
able  to  react  upon  limitations  and  convert  them 
into  freedom,  transmuting  evil  into  good.  What 
we  like  is  what  we  are ;  what  we  will  is  what  we 
are  struggling  to  become.  To  attain  Paradise  re- 
quires love  as  well  as  insight,  fire  as  well  as  light. 
We  may  know  and  will  rightly,  but  we  must  also 
feel  rightly;  we  need  an  accession  of  the  Christ- 
like  spirit.  Thirst  for  the  divine  has  power  to 
bear  us  upward ;  aspiration  is  the  prophecy  of  at- 
tainment. What  we  crave  and  steadily  seek  will 
be  ours,  says  Dante. 


The  Paradiso  is  the  most  difficult  part  of  the 
Divina  Commedia,  but  to  one  who  comprehends 
its  music,  the  music  of  spiritual  life,  the  most  in- 
spiring. We  are  what  we  can  see  and  realize. 
Dante,  exiled,  disappointed,  embittered,  sang 
those  deathless  songs  of  joy,  so  high  and  pure 
that  the  ear  scarcely  sustains  their  melody.  He 
must  have  had  in  his  heart  the  fountain  of  that 
joy,  or  he  could  not  have  interpreted  so  truly  the 
fervor  and  love  and  high  thought  that  are  daily 
moving  men  and  women  to  lead  the  spiritual  life 
in  obedience  to  Love  Divine  that  rules  hearts  and 
sways  the  heavens  in  perpetual  harmony. 

"The  glory  of  Him  who  moves  all  things  pen- 
etrates through  the  universe,  and  shines  in  one 
part  more  and  in  another  less,"  are  Dante's  open- 
ing words  in  the  Paradiso.  As  the  rays  of  the 
sun  are  received  differently  by  different  bodies,  so 
with  the  goodness  of  God,  which  gives  itself  more 
and  more  as  the  capacity  to  receive  it  increases. 
The  black  clod  absorbs  and  is  warmed  by  the 
sunlight,  but  does  not  reflect  and  ray  it  forth  on 
every  side  like  the  diamond.  The  gifts  of  God 
multiply  by  giving,  and  decrease  by  hoarding ;  he 
who  gives  most  receives  most.  We  are  at  our 
best  only  when  we  cheer  and  strengthen  others 


with  the  help  that  has  come  to  us ;  again  and 
again  Dante  reiterates  this  truth. 

Dante  gives  the  exact  time  when  he  ascended 
to  Paradise,  April  13,  1300.  He  also  describes 
its  location  according  to  the  astronomical  notions 
of  his  day.  Is  Heaven  then  a  place  according  to 
Dante?  What  does  he  say?  "Light  and  love 
enclose  it;"  "these  near  nor  far  nor  add  nor 
take  away;"  "it  has  no  other  where  than  the 
Divine  mind."  We  must  always  look  through 
the  symbolism  to  interpret  the  poem  aright. 

Dante's  ascent  to  Paradise  after  climbing  the 
terraces  of  Purgatory  is  like  the  descent  of  a 
stream  from  a  high  mountain  to  its  base.  Rivers 
flow  to  the  sea,  but  the  soul  of  man  rises  to  the 
stars,  overcoming  the  downward  gravitation  of 
earth  by  the  upward  gravitation  of  spiritual  desire 
and  aspiration,  the  divine  power  of  love. 

Dante  looks  at  Beatrice,  Beatrice  at  the  Sun, 
and  the  two  are  borne  upward  to  the  heaven  of 
the  Moon.  "Within  itself  the  eternal  pearl  re- 
ceived us,  even  as  water  receives  a  ray  of  light, 
remaining  unbroken."  A  lower  law  is  again  re- 
placed by  a  higher,  the  law  of  exclusion  by  that 
of  inclusion,  as  the  downward  gravitation  of  mat- 
ter by  the  upward  gravitation  of  spirit.  There  is 


an  exclusive  sense  in  which  I  own  houses  and 
lands  and  material  belongings,  shutting  out  oth- 
ers from  their  possession;  but  knowledge  and 
spiritual  gifts  increase  as  they  are  diffused  and 
shared. 

All  the  spirits  in  Dante's  Paradise  abide  in  the 
highest  heaven,  the  Empyrean,  but  they  show 
themselves  to  Dante  in  nine  lower  heavens  that 
he  may  comprehend  their  different  degrees  of  in- 
sight and  beatitude.  Gentle  Piccarda  Donati,  in 
the  heaven  of  the  Moon,  unfolds  the  secret  of 
blessedness.  It  is  not  to  desire  a  higher  place,  or 
to  be  thirsty  for  aught  else  than  one  has,  since  it 
is  essential  to  heavenly  existence  to  hold  one's 
self  within  the  divine  will,  "  E  la  sua  volontate  e 
nostra  pace."  "And  His  will  is  our  peace,"  says 
Piccarda,  the  finest  single  line  in  Dante's  whole 
poem.  Each  soul  has  all  the  good  it  can  hold 
and  is  unconscious  of  any  lack;  there  is  no  jarring 
note  in  the  heavenly  harmony.  Underlying 
diversity  is  perfect  unity,  the  all-embracing  bond 
of  love,  which  moves  each  will  in  unison  with  the 
will  of  "  Him  who  moves  the  Sun  and  the  other 
stars." 

On  earth  men  are  full  of  discontent  because 
others  excel  them  in  material  and  intellectual 


gifts,  envying  their  possessions  and  their  happi- 
ness, discordant  rather  than  harmonious  notes  in 
that  social  brotherhood  which,  like  the  brother- 
hood of  saints,  should  rest  on  love,  each  rejoicing 
and  participating  in  the  good  of  all.  The  ideal 
shines  before  men, — true  humility  and  content 
with  what  we  have  and  are, — but  it  is  an  ideal 
slowly  realized. 

Piccarda's  words  to  Dante  burn  with  Love's 
heart  of  fire;  listening  to  them,  it  is  clear  how 
"everywhere  in  Heaven  is  Paradise."  Tending 
to  the  sea  of  divine  love,  insight  and  blessedness 
increase  with  sympathy  and  fellowship. 

The  Moon  was  known  to  Dante  to  shine  with 
reflected  light  and  to  be  nearest  the  earth.  It 
is  therefore  symbolic  of  the  souls  who  through 
defective  will  were  compelled  to  breajc  their 
religious  vows,  unable  to  defy  circumstances 
and  triumph  over  fear.  We  are  what  we  are 
through  inward  defect  rather  than  through  out- 
ward environment. 

In  Mercury,  veiled  by  the  rays  of  the  Sun, 
Dante  meets  the  souls  who  have  done  great 
deeds  for  the  sake  of  honor  and  fame,  their  mo- 
tives of  action  tinged  by  selfishness,  its  reflection 
in  the  minds  of  others  rather  than  in  their  own. 


Lacking  complete  moral  independence  and 
freedom  they  rejoice  in  the  principle  of  justice. 
The  application  of  justice  is  the  work  of  the  law, 
hence  the  typical  spirit  in  Mercury  is  Justinian. 
"Diverse  voices  make  sweet  notes/7  he  says;  "thus 
different  degrees  of  joy  contribute  to  harmony  in 
Heaven/'  a  thought  often  repeated  by  Dante. 
Let  the  star  be  content  to  shine  as  a  star  rather 
than  to  imitate  the  Sun.  Is  our  place  in  life 
secondary,  subordinate?  If  we  do  our  work 
faithfully  it  is  as  genuine  a  contribution  to  the 
universal  good  as  the  work  of  greater  men  and 
women.  We  all  contribute  in  different  ways  to 
a  perfected  society  on  earth  and  in  heaven. 

The  earth's  shadow  ends  on  the  surface  of 
Venus,  according  to  Ptolemy,  Dante's  astronom- 
ical authority.  The  souls  in  the  Moon,  in  Mer- 
cury, in  Venus,  are  overshadowed  by  earthly 
influences,  shown  in  want  of  courage,  worldly 
ambition,  unregulated  love ;  they  are  therefore 
excluded  from  the  higher  degree  of  blessedness. 
Loving,  one  learns  the  nature  of  love;  seeking 
the  good  of  others,  one  enters  into  the  divine 
activity.  But  love  must  be  for  all  men  ;  it  must 
strive  to  lift  up  into  insight  and  blessedness  the 
lowest  dregs  of  humanity. 


In  Dante's  fourth  heaven  of  the  Sun,  the  souls 
of  the  blessed  are  wholly  self-illuminated.  They 
form  two  great  concentric  circles,  or  wheels,  re- 
volving with  different  yet  concordant  motion, 
symbolizing  unselfish  individuality  developed 
into  a  harmonious  social  whole.  They  are  the 
great  theologians  and  doctors  of  the  church,  who 
sought  to  prove  that  the  Christian  religion  is 
identical  with  the  results  of  sound  knowledge  and 
right  thinking.  Love  radiates  the  resplendence 
with  which  they  are  clothed.  Love  comes  from 
the  vision  of  God,  the  light  increasing  with  the 
ardor,  the  ardor  with  the  vision.  The  more 
clearly  one  sees  the  divine,  the  more  ardent  the 
love;  the  more  ardent  the  love,  the  clearer  the 
vision.  "Therefore  the  vision  must  perforce 
increase,  increase  the  ardor  which  from  that  is 
kindled,  increase  the  radiance  which  from  this 
proceeds."  To  know  God  is  to  love  Him;  to 
love  God  is  to  know  Him  more  completely. 

( '  O  soaring  soul  !  faint  not  nor  tire  ! 
Each  Heaven  attained  reveals  a  higher  !  " 

In  the  fifth  heaven  of  Mars,  Dante  sees  the 
spirits,  brightly  scintillating,  in  the  form  of  a 
cross,  the  supreme  symbol  of  self-renunciation. 


Up  and  down  they  move  freely,  but  are  never 
dissevered  from  the  radiant  fillet  which  binds 
them  to  the  cross.  As  the  spirits  in  the  Sun 
show  how  knowledge  increases  love  and  love  en- 
kindles knowledge,  the  spirits  in  Mars  renounce 
self  utterly,  their  beneficent  activity  unobscured 
t  by  love  of  fame,  as  in  Mercury.  Bound  to  the 
cross  and  shining  with  its  indwelling  light,  they 
are  one  with  the  whole  of  humanity. 

Mars  is  the  heaven  of  martyrs  who  have  dared 
to  be  true  to  themselves;  it  is  the  heaven  where 
Dante  meets  his  great  ancestor,  Cacciaguida. 
Banishment  from  Florence,  dependence,  loneli- 
ness,— all  these  are  foretold  to  the  poet. 

Journeying  with  Dante  we  have  learned  to 
know  his  soul,  his  pride  and  anger  and  bitter- 
ness, his  desire  for  worldly  power  and  fame, — 
faults  that  he  humbly  acknowledged  and  humbly 
sought  to  expiate.  The  voice  of  his  heroic  an- 
cestors in  Mars  bids  him  conquer  the  cowardice 
that  would  lead  him  to  suppress  unwelcome 
truth,  bids  him  "manifest  his  vision  utterly." 
"Arise  and  conquer!"  is  the  stirring  cry  from  the 
spirits  upgathered  on  the  cross.  Crucify  selfish 
fear  as  well  as  pride  and  anger  and  ambition. 

From  the  heaven  of  Mars,  Dante  and  Beatrice 


rise  to  the  heaven  of  Jupiter,  the  planet  of  right- 
eous rulers  who,  arranged  in  the  form  of  an 
eagle,  comprise  in  luminous  words  the  sentence: 
"  Di  ligete  justitiam  qui  judicatis  terram"  "Love 
justice,  ye  that  be  judges  of  the  earth." 

The  eagle  symbolizes  the  Holy  Roman  Em- 
pire— Dante's  dream  of  a  united  nation  based  on 
justice  and  law.  When  the  eagle  speaks,  it  "ut- 
ters with  its  beak  both  I  and  My,  when  in  con- 
ception it  is  We  and  Our,"  the  idea  seeming  to 
be  that  the  realization  of  the  highest  self  is  found 
in  total  humanity.  Man  as  an  individual  is  pro- 
tected, guided,  strengthened,  and  helped  by  oth- 
ers in  the  family,  the  State,  the  Church.  The 
least  can  share  in  the  triumphs  of  the  greatest. 
In  the  large  way  we  prosper  or  suffer  together. 
Mars  is  fiery  red,  Jupiter  silvery  white;  the  ardor 
of  love  concentrated  in  sacrifice  is  found  in  one, 
the  radiance  of  love  beneficently  diffused  in  the 
other. 

One  of  the  brightest  lights  in  Jupiter  is  the 
Trojan  Ripheus  who,  "through  grace  which  dis- 
tils from  a  fount  so  deep  that  creature  never 
pushed  the  eye  far  as  its  primal  wave,  there  be- 
low set  all  his  love  on  righteousness,  wherefore 
Faith,  Hope  and  Charity  were  to  him  for  baptism 


more  than  a  thousand  years  before  baptizing." 
Salvation  is  by  faith,  but  faith  is  purely  spiritual. 
"  Regnum  coelorum  (the  kingdom  of  heaven)  suf- 
fereth  violence  from  fervent  love,  and  from  that 
living  hope  that  overcometh  the  Divine  volition, 
not  in  the  guise  that  man  o'ercometh  man,  but 
conquers  it  because  it  will  be  conquered,  and  con- 
quered, conquers  by  benignity." 

Ascending  from  Jupiter  to  Saturn,  Dante  be- 
holds a  golden  stairway,  uplifted  beyond  the 
power  of  mortal  vision,  symbol  of  the  life  of 
mystical  contemplation.  Spheres  of  light,  "be- 
coming more  beautiful  with  mutual  rays,"  the 
souls  in  Saturn,  enriched  by  the  total  experience 
of  humanity,  expand  to  the  measure  of  the  divine 
fullness. 

Dante  almost  anticipates  the  jubilant  cry  of 
Beatrice  as,  entering  the  heaven  of  the  Fixed 
Stars,  she  bids  him 

"  Behold  the  hosts  of  Christ's  triumphal  march,  and  all  the  fruit 
Harvested  by  the  rolling  of  the  spheres." 

"Above  myriads  of  lights,  a  sun  was  enkindling 
each  and  all  of  them,  and  through  its  living 
splendor  the  lucent  substance  shone  so  bright 
that  I  sustained  it  not,"  says  Dante. 


We  pass  from  vision  to  doctrine,  from  the  sym- 
bol to  its  essential  meaning.  What  is  Faith  ? 
What  is  Hope?  What  is  Charity?  The  three 
must  be  ours  in  order  to  triumph  over  the  world 
in  a  Christ-like  spirit.  To  bear  witness  to  the 
truth,  to  seek  and  save  the  lost,  to  overcome  evil 
with  good,  to  deal  gently  with  the  erring  and 
sternly  with  the  false,  to  suffer  wrong  rather  than 
do  wrong,  to  draw  toward  ourselves  all  forms  of 
blessing  in  order  to  enrich  the  lives  of  others, — 
this  is  the  triumph  of  the  Christ-like  spirit  in 
man. 

Rapt  in  the  beauty  of  Beatrice,  Dante  rises  to 
the  swiftest  and  first-moved  heaven,  the  Primum 
Mobile,  where  time  and  space  both  end.  The 
increasing  radiance  in  the  eyes  of  Beatrice  is  like 
a  mirror  in  which  Dante  beholds  the  reflection  of 
new  glory.  She  "imparadises"  his  mind.  The 
more  man  is  deepened  in  the  contemplation  of 
divine  things,  the  higher  he  rises  on  the  ladder 
of  contemplation  to  God. 

Dante  sees  a  point  infinitely  small  and  infinitely 
bright,  the  symbolic  manifestation  of  the  divine 
nature,  and  round  it  nine  concentric  circles  of 
fire,  the  nine  angelic  orders  of  the  hierarchy  of 
heaven.  They  are  all  upward  gazing,  and  down- 


ward  prevail,  so  that  toward  God  they  are  all 
attracted  and  all  attract, —  a  perfect  symbol  of 
the  social  ideal  of  Christ. 

The  ninth  heaven  is  the  heaven  of  influence, 
descending  through  Cherubim  and  Seraphim  to 
the  least  and  lowest  who  aspire  toward  a  higher 
life.  This  is  one  of  the  deepest  of  Dante's 
lessons.  We  are  to  diffuse  what  we  receive, 
to  work  forever  to  create  the  image  of  God  in 
others  as  in  ourselves.  Love  grows  by  giving ; 
knowledge  shared  is  knowledge  deepened. 

The  primal  light  that  irradiates  all  is  received 
in  as  many  modes;  no  two  angels  are  precisely 
alike  in  their  vision  of  God.  "  Wherefore  since 
affection  follows  upon  the  act  that  conceives,  the 
sweetness  of  love  diversely  glows  and  warms. 
Behold  now  the  breadth  and  the  height  of  the 
Eternal  Goodness  since  it  has  made  for  itself 
so  many  mirrors  on  which  it  is  broken,  One  in 
itself  remaining  as  before/' 

In  the  ascent  to  the  Empyrean  Dante  is  over- 
powered by  the  greatness  of  his  theme.  He 
gives  up  the  attempt  to  describe  the  beauty  of 
Beatrice,  "transcending  measure/'  The  Empy- 
rean is  the  "  Heaven  which  is  pure  light;  light 
intellectual,  full  of  love;  love  of  true  good,  full 


of  joy;  joy  which  transcends  every  sweetness/' 
Dante's  first  sensation  is  that  of  a  flash  of  light- 
ning, swathing  him  in  a  veil  of  its  own  effulgence. 
This  is  the  welcome  that  "fits  the  candle  to  the 
flame/'  giving  Dante  the  strength  required  for 
new  insight.  Men  must  be  bathed  in  God's  il- 
luminating grace  before  their  thirst  for  truth  can 
be  satisfied. 

Raised  to  a  higher  power  of  vision,  Dante  sees 
"  light  in  the  form  of  a  river,  bright  with  efful- 
gence, between  two  banks  painted  with  a  marvel- 
lous spring.  Out  of  this  stream  were  issuing 
living  sparks,  and  on  every  side  were  setting 
themselves  in  the  flowers,  like  rubies  which  gold 
encompasses.  Then,  as  if  inebriated  by  the 
odors,  they  plunged  again  into  the  wonderful 
flood,  and  as  one  was  entering  another  was  issu- 
ing forth."  The  river  represents  the  grace  and 
love  of  God ;  the  ruby  sparks  are  the  angels ; 
the  flowers  on  the  banks  are  the  souls  of  the 
righteous;  the  movements  represent  the  minis- 
tries of  angels,  ministries  of  joy.  and  fellowship. 
All  are  images  foreshadowing  the  truth. 

As  Dante  bathes  his  eyes  in  the  illuminating 
stream,  its  form  changes,  it  flows  in  a  circle  con- 
sisting of  a  host  of  angelic  beings,  who  form  a 


great  white  rose.  The  petals  of  the  rose  are 
ranks  of  glorified  saints,  tier  above  tier,  mirrored 
in  the  crystal  sea  of  light,  as  a  flower-clad  hill  is 
mirrored  in  a  lake.  The  angels  pass  in  a  contin- 
ual stream  of  glory  between  God  and  the  saints, 
a  glory  consisting  of  knowledge  and  love,  deep- 
ening to  all  eternity. 

The  imagery  may  have  been  suggested  by  the 
rose  windows  of  Gothic  cathedrals,  or  it  may 
have  spontaneously  sprung  up  before  Dante's 
creative  imagination.  "  My  vision  lost  not  itself 
in  the  breadth  and  in  the  height,  but  took  in 
all  the  quantity  and  the  quality  of  that  joy. 
There  near  and  far  nor  add  nor  take  away;  for 
where  God  immediately  governs,  the  natural 
law  is  of  no  relevancy." 

Turning  to  speak  to  Beatrice,  Dante  finds  an 
old  man  with  pious  mien,  such  as  befits  a  tender 
father.  It  is  St.  Bernard,  to  whom  it  was  given 
to  be  master  of  the  hearts  of  men  as  St.  Thomas 
Aquinas  was  of  their  intellects.  Beatrice  has  re- 
turned to  her  place  as  a  petal  of  the  White  Rose 
of  Paradise.  Raising  his  eyes  upward,  Dante 
beholds  her  "  as  she  makes  for  herself  a  crown, 
reflecting  from  herself  the  eternal  rays/'  What 
a  sublime  image !  The  glory  of  God  penetrates 


the  universe,  blessing  in  proportion  as  it  is  ac- 
cepted and  reflected. 

Beatrice,  transcending  all  her  words  with  the 
sweet  splendor  of  her  smile,  is  dear  to  us  as  the 
type  of  divine  wisdom.  She  is  dear  to  us  also  as 
the  spirit  of  a  love  immortally  famous,  a  love  that 
once  drew  human  breath  like  ours,  and  was 
pierced  with  the  pain  of  sorrow  and  bereavement. 
Dante  rises  from  circle  to  circle  in  the  "  Para- 
diso"  by  gazing  on  her  loving  eyes,  always  turned 
upward,  drawing  her  lover  from  herself  to  God. 
The  glance  of  Beatrice  once  fell  on  Dante's  heart 
in  Florence  like  a  benediction.  She  died,  and 
the  poet's  lady  on  earth  became  his  lady  in 
heaven.  The  love  of  his  youth  was  to  him  a 
"New  Life,"  "Vita  Nuova"  an  ideal  followed 
through  failure  and  error  until  in  repentant  devo- 
tion he  is  at  last  saved  "  as  by  fire."  For  what 
is  the  ideal  but  a  guide,  like  the  love  of  Beatrice, 
leading  us  closer  and  closer  to  the  real,  the 
beatific  vision  of  God  ? 

Dante's  sight  enters  more  and  more  into  the 
rays  of  the  high  light  which  in  itself  is  true. 
Memory  and  speech  alike  fail  to  reproduce  the 
vision.  He  remembers  an  ineffable  intuition,  an 
ineffable  sweetness  to  bear  witness  to  his  experi- 


ence.  "  O  abundant  Grace,  whereby  I  presumed 
to  fix  my  eyes  through  the  Eternal  Light  so  far 
that  there  I  consumed  my  sight/'  "Bound  with 
love  in  one  volume/'  Dante  sees  the  essential 
and  the  accidental,  the  universal  and  the  particu- 
lar, whatever  on  earth  is  manifold  and  separated 
existing  in  God  as  parts  of  an  organic  whole. 

Wholly  rapt,  gazing  fixed,  motionless  and  in- 
tent, Dante  grows  more  and  more  enkindled. 
Within  the  deep  and  luminous  subsistence  of  the 
lofty  light,  three  circles  appear  of  threefold  color 
and  of  one  dimension,  the  first  reflected  by  the 
second,  and  the  third  as  fire  which  from  the  one 
and  from  the  other  is  equally  breathed  forth. 
The  second  circle,  regarded  closer,  depicts  within 
itself  the  human  effigy.  First,  the  mystery  of  the 
Trinity  is  revealed,  one  nature  and  essence  in 
three  persons;  then  the  mystery  of  the  human 
incarnated  in  the  divine.  Dante  sees  a  human 
form  and  features,  "  perfect  God  and  perfect 
man,"  in  the  "  Light  of  Light." 

The  end  crowns  the  work.  Dante  wishes  to 
see  how  the  image  accords  with  the  circle,  the 
human  nature  with  the  divine,  but  recognizes  that 
the  wings  of  his  intellect  are  unequal  to  the  task. 
Then,  suddenly  smitten  by  a  flash  of  illuminat- 


ing  grace,  the  truth  is  revealed.  "  To  my  high 
fantasy  here  power  failed ;  but  now  my  desire 
and  my  will,  like  a  wheel  which  evenly  is  moved, 
the  Love  was  turning  which  moves  the  Sun  and 
the  other  stars." 

Love,  then,  is  Dante's  solving  word,  love 
which  shows  us  the  way  to  the  stars,  the  heights 
of  Heaven.  This  is, the  end  of  man, — to  climb 
through  every  phase  of  human  experience  to  that 
region  where  the  true,  the  good,  and  the  beauti- 
ful blend  in  the  white  light  of  God.  Beyond  the 
horizon  of  speculation  floats,  in  the  passionless 
splendor  of  the  Empyrean,  a  citadel  of  refuge  for 
souls  purified  and  transhumanized.  "And  it  is 
called  Empyrean,  which  is  the  same  as  a  heaven 
blazing  with  fire  or  ardor,  not  because  there  is  in 
it  a  natural  fire  burning,  but  a  spiritual  one, 
which  is  blessed  love  or  charity." 


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